Once upon a time everybody wanted to be like Prince and/or his Minneapolis buddies. I thought it might be fun to see how many cheap imitations we can come up with. I know there was this guy named Jak at one time. He had one cd, but I never bought it. He had the hair and moustache and held his guitar on the cover. Lindsay Buckingham even got into the act. For the video Go Insane, he was wearing a trenchcoat like Prince. The r &b groups the Deele and Kiddo were poor imitations of the Time. The Bar-Kays even went through a Prince period with their Bangin' The Walls album or was it Sex-0-Matic? Evelyn Champagne King and Jody Watley got Cymone to produce their albums. And Ready For The World was embarrasingly Prince rip-offs. Can you think of anyone else?

Here's another one that comes to mind. Phil Collins' and that Susudio song. That's clearly influenced by Prince. George Michael's I WANT YOUR SEX...

Giorgio (Teena Cherry)

Terence Trent D'arby, although he wasn't just a copycat, he brought a lot of his own talent and originality to the table too, but his look/style seemed heavily influnced by Prince.

I'd say Jesse Johnson.

GaryMF said:

It didn't stop there fella! I'll never forget him showing up on Video Soul in the late 80's, in a purple suit with songs like Sexappeal,Bedrock,Poke-A-Dot and 1/4 2 9(A Quarter To Nine) claiming he didn't see why people compared him with Prince so much.
[Edited 11/11/05 19:07pm]

Giorgio!!!!! I can't believe that. I forgot all about that guy. "Well if it feels that damn good baby let me hears scream! Sex appeal!"

Not music-wise, but fashion-wise...
there was a point where at the beginning of the whole big-hair heavy-metal
explosion, ya saw alot of Princely type clothing in there.

sitruk7 said:

I wish I could find that footage! I remember he asked Donnie Simpson did people want hi to scratch his own face with a comb when Donnie brought up the Prince resemblence.

There was also this black and white duo in the 80's called the System. They had the song, "You Are In My System." They even had the black vocalist in a video riding a motorcycle very similar to the one Prince had in Purple Rain.

brothaluv said:

You're referring to The System's 1985 video "Pleasure Seekers".That video is such an embarassing Prince rip-off! The lead singer (Mic Murphy) is riding around town on a motorcycle,with big hair covering one side of his face (lol).This video is unintentionally hilarious.

Ready For The World
Exotic Storm
Terence Trent D'Arby
Sexual Harrassment
Dreamboy
The Bar Kays (a few of their 80s songs are very Prince-sounding)
Giorgio

DavidEye said:

I only remember their dumb song "You're In My SyStem" which was annoyingly repetitive....and I was like "Please you gotta write a song with your band's name in it for people to remember who you are??"

If I heard a Prince-sounding cut I probably would've liked them more.

I actually liked the Sexual Harrassment song, "I need a Freak." I wish Prince would've covered it and made a Rod Serling style video. For those of you who have never heard the song, it's being sampled by the Black Eyed Peas now...My Humps or something like that.

brothaluv said:

"I Need A Freak" was da jam! the rest of their album was pretty good too.Songs like "If I Gave You A Party (Would You Come)?" and "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" are underrated 80s funk classics,totally inspired by the 1982/83 Minneapolis Sound.These guys were HUGE Prince fans and it showed,lol.In 1985,they even released a single called "We Want Prince".

GaryMF said:

"You Are In My System" is dope!

Robert Palmer released a cover version the same year.

Klymaxx (Bernadette Cooper was the female Morris Day)
Madame X (Vanity 6 and Morris Day all rolled up into one)
The Barkays ("Dangerous" and "Banging The Walls" albums)
Chaka Khan ("I Feel For You" and "Earth To Mickey")
Krystol ("Passion From A Woman")
Vesta Williams ("Something About You")
Egyptian Lover ("Freak-A-Holic")
Janet Jackson ("Control" and "Rhythm Nation" albums)
Ready For The World
Dreamboy ("Don't Go")
Sexual Harrassment
Ebonee Webb
Jody Watley
El DeBarge ("Real Love")
Lakeside ("Relationship")
Shalamar (With Mikki Free)

vainandy said:

nice list - you obviously know your Prince influenced 80s funk. I woudl also submit the following:

Georgio (easily the most notorious Prince clone in history. He had almost every thing ripped off: the sound, the look, the attitude. He did a hilarious interview with Donnie Simpson on Video Soul that I wish I still had on tape)

OBryan (I love this guy. I'm Freaky is probably the best Prince rip off song of all time - though I cant throw out RFTW's Oh Sheila. He was lie Prince in that he wrote and performed almost everything and had some legitimate chops - is he even alive now?)

Xavier (he is a 90s artist but if you can find his only CD, you would swear some of the tracks were produced in Paisley Park. Check out the song called Gentle Screamer)

Exotic Storm (sleazy and greasy looking Prince wanna-bees. I mean the tacky clothes from Merry Go Round and the drippy jheri curls on the album cover are so low budget that they almost look like a parody or joke of some kind. Pedestrian Prince funk that isnt that bad though)

Le Klass (like the aforementioned band but only more low budget. I dont even think their CD is on a major label. Still not completly worthless if you love 80s new wave funk like I do)

vainandy said:

You know Bernadette produced Madame X...it was like her Vanity 6 spin-off group.

Damn I wish I could find Madame X now on CD. I had a crappy tape of it that I can't find now.

I LOVE Me some Klymaxx. I have their stuff on CD now.....

Did y'all see the Bands ReUnited episode with them! It was sad cuz they didn't make up with Cheryl Cooley but it was ncie to see them play live. They could bring it back in the day.

Wish they would reunite for real.

GaryMF said:

The System was an excellent group and "You're In My System" and "Times Of Passion" are some of their best songs. I don't remember the "Pleasure Seekers" video so I can't comment about Mic Murphy's look during that period, but he and David Frank had their own thing going and were definitely didn't bite any of Prince's sound. At least not on the 3 albums I have.

I think MM cut a track with Andre Cymone and St. Paul on SP's "Blue Cadillac" CD, one of the better tunes on it.

Does anyone else see the resemblance of the guitar in Charlotte Churches (yes I know - yuk) new song, "Call My Name" I think its called, and various Prince songs?!

Yeah, it was a thread about this very topic months ago. Jak has to be the biggest bite of all-time. Another was a band called Q.T. Hush. Their band look was identical to Purple Rain era Revolution. The two white girls and the whole 9. Everybody was inter-changeable with the Revoulution.

Blackguitarist, so did their songs sound any good? I'm just curious. Anybody heard their stuff? I love that 1980's Oberheim synthesizer/Minneapolis sound perfected by Prince.Wouldn't mind hearing other's try to duplicate it. But since you can't find any of their cd's around anymore, that suggests they weren't that good.

Oh here's another one. P.M. Dawn. He didn't rip Prince off blatantly. But he did channel the purple one's vide.

brothaluv said:

Me too! I love when other bands do that....


I thought he was more George Clinton esque

GaryMF said:

I thought he was more George Clinton esque[/quote]

Actually I would say he was a combination of both. P.M. Dawn was a chunky dude. So he couldn't exactly dress like Prince. God forbid he show up in assless pants. But he did try to copy Prince's cool and aloof spiritual vibe with his music. Ocasionally, he even succeeded.

Here's another one. See if anyone remembers her. She made one appearance on Soul Train in the 80's. Her name was Lushuss. Vanity clone. She actually had hair and a complexion similar to Beyounce. But she was much thinner. She wore the provocative clothing and tried her damndest to mimic Denise Matthews. Her sex appeal left much to be desired, but she could sing better than Vanity.

Thanks. I live for the funk.

Yeah, Bernadette was a bad girl. I'd love to see more strong women like that. My favorite from the album is "I Want Your Body".....

I want your body baby...lust.....L-U-S-T.....I lust you....

The whole album is great and contains tons of funk.

Angela Winbush---her 1987 single "Run To Me" sounded alot like 'Erotic City'.She even sings in a Princely falsetto.

Madame X---their 1987 single "I Want Your Body" sounds like a Vanity 6 outtake from 1983.

brothaluv said:

Q.T. Hush were sorry as hell. Jak's songs were better, but man, he bit waaaay too much off of P. Look, his whole album were basically Controversy, 1999 songs pieced together. Like he has a cut called "69", It's "Do Me, Baby" and "Girl" combined. The whole album is like that. "I Go Wild" is soooo like "D.M.S.R.". It's amazing that P didn't go after this cat for plagerism. P would have won.

GaryMF said:

You never heard "Don't Disturb This Groove"? That was a big crossover hit. I think "This Is For You" was big on R&B radio also.

This album is a big Prince ripoff:


Rockwell - The Genie


Anyone remember this woman?


Lushus Daim & The Pretty Vain